Thursday night the Wolfpack Speaks competition was held to give students in COM 110 classes the chance to test their public-speaking skills in a real-life setting. The contest, which is the only event of its kind on campus, began three years ago as an event sponsored by the communications department.

Christina Moss, director of the COM 110 Intro to Public Speaking classes, said one person is selected to compete from each of the fall semester COM 110 classes.

“Each class selects a representative, which could be determined by the teacher or the classroom as a whole,” Moss said. “30 students from these classes competed Wednesday night for a panel of judges, from which six finalists were selected.”

The six finalists competed last night for three new judges and a crowd that included students, faculty, community members and family of the contestants.

Communications Department Head Kenneth Zagacki welcomed the attendees by thanking those present for their support and commending participating students for their skill, endurance and courage.

“The skills students develop in this competition can be used in any career,” Zagacki said.

In addition, Zagacki thanked Wolfpack Speaks’ 2010 sponsor, David Young, for his contributions to the scholarships provided for students in the first three places. Young is a general partner of Edward Jones, the largest investment firm in the country based in St. Louis. He flew in to North Carolina to be a judge in the competition.

“My good friend Dean Phillips described the competition to me, and it sounded like an event I would support because I believe public speaking skills are important for people to succeed,” Young said. “This is a unique opportunity for students to practice skills they learn in the classroom.”

The student participants all gave five- to seven-minute “call to action” speeches they prepared in their COM 110 classes.

“The students design these persuasive speeches with extemporaneous delivery with the goal of getting the audience to do something about a problem,” Moss said.

Darius Parker, the first place winner, gave a speech entitled “Help Stop the Hurt.” His presentation called the audience to encourage young people by volunteering, mentoring or even just giving a compliment.

In his speech, Parker said the top three problems young people say they face today are “poverty, violence and broken homes.”

“Young people everywhere are hurting,” Parker said. “There are many things you can do. Let’s make a promise to encourage our youth.”

In a personal interview, Parker said he was inspired to write this speech after serving in the University peer mentor program by mentoring an incoming freshman. A junior in electrical engineering, Parker said he didn’t know he had a talent for public speaking until he was selected to participate in this competition.

“I got a lot out of the peer mentoring program and I want to keep volunteering and promoting my cause,” Parker said. “I think everybody did a great job speaking. I was nervous to go first but once I got up there everything went well.”

Parker received a $200 scholarship for winning first place. The second and third place winners received $150 and $100, respectively, and the fourth through sixth place winners received gift certificates.

Zackary Ross, a junior in science education, received second place for his speech entitled “End Achievement Grouping in Our Schools,” in which he called for an end to school classroom grouping based on past and present success rates.

Heerangi Amin, a sophomore in animal science, attended the competition because her COM 110 teacher offered extra credit for students who came to support the speakers.

“I thought all of the speakers were very good,” Amin said. “Perhaps the most unique was the speech about chewing gum.”

That speech came from William Bolin, a sophomore in plant biology. In “The Benefits of Chewing Gum,” for which he received sixth place, Bolin cited the proven scientific benefits that chewing gum provides.

“My TA for my public speaking class said she wouldn’t discriminate on what we wrote our speeches about, even if it was about chewing gum,” Bolin said. “I took it to heart and decided to make that my topic.”

Dean Phillips, visiting professor of communications, said his department’s hope is that the event “will become something of a happening on campus.” He said the public-speaking classes are some of the most widely offered courses at the University and are a great opportunity for students to develop necessary skills.

“All of the students speaking tonight had a lot of energy and passion for their subjects,” Phillips said. “A lot of them actually spoke better than they did last night, even with more people present. You could tell the students who knew how to play to the crowd.”

The remaining participants were Levi Ruff, in third place, who spoke on “Saluting Those Who Survived,” Khoa Nguyen in fourth place who entitled his speech “Let’s Paint a Beautiful Picture” and Carley Miller in fifth place who gave a call to action regarding “Entertainment, Exotic Animals and Exploitation.”